Debbie and Eric Barto have spent most of their 30 years together navigating health crises that could have split their lives wide open. Instead, the Carthage couple says faith, community, and an unexpected network of helping hands have kept them moving forward.
Their experiences have not been easy, but these experiences have shaped them all the same. Debbie was 4 years old when she was hit by a drunk driver. Eric was 33 when doctors told him he had glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer that often leaves patients with little time.
Both are now in their mid-50s, living with their rescue dog, Natalie, and sharing their story in hopes of encouraging others who may need faith in their lives now more than ever.
“God has bene through our whole story, even though it’s been hard,” explained Debbie, smiling. “John 16:33 says, ‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’”
The Bartos met as students at Methodist College, now Methodist University in Fayetteville. After marrying, they settled in Moore County, where Debbie taught at Cameron Elementary and Eric worked in golf. His career eventually took them to Ohio, where he became an assistant golf professional at Longaberger Golf Club.
Eric recounted that the job came with long hours and national attention: televised tournaments, celebrity players and a rapid pace leading up to major events.
Debbie said she first noticed something was off when Eric began misplacing keys and opening the wrong cabinets at home. She assumed it was stress until the lapses grew stranger.
One day on the job, Eric found himself inches from a mirror, staring at his own reflection without realizing it. He later learned they were early signs of seizures.
The turning point came when a cousin called Eric at work and the words coming out of his mouth didn’t make sense. By a stroke of luck, one of Eric’s doctors happened to be playing at Longaberger Golf Club that day—an unusual coincidence she still believes was providential.
After a brief on-site evaluation, the doctor insisted Eric be seen immediately. By Monday, scans revealed a stage-4 brain tumor.
“It is the deadliest type you can have,” Debbie said. “We were in shock.”
Support came quickly. A friend at the company helped Eric secure an appointment at a Cleveland Clinic, where he was on an operating table within two weeks. Debbie said that this is an unheard-of timeline that the couple still describes as an answered prayer.
Eric, continuing to defy the odds, recovered well from surgery, then completed chemotherapy and radiation.
By 2007, the Bartos moved back to North Carolina to be closer to Debbie’s family. Eric worked at Knollwood Golf Course, taught young golfers, and held part-time jobs while returning regularly for follow-up care.
During a visit to Duke, a physician told him his survival defied medical expectations.
“They told him they didn’t even have records of patients living past a year,” Debbie said. “Not only was he cancer-free, the tendrils of the tumor had dissolved.”
During the interview, Eric, laughing, produced a golf ball from a nearby table. “My doctor out of Columbus told me that he essentially took out a golf ball, and I’m a golf professional,” he said, indicating the irony.
Eric and the couple’s dog, Natalie.
Eric began sharing his testimony in churches across the region, often including this golf ball to show the size of the tumor that once dominated his life. He later wrote a book about his experience, Hope: Having Ongoing Purpose for Eternity, and the couple is now working on a follow-up covering more recent challenges.
Those challenges came in early 2020, when what should have been a routine procedure spiraled into a months-long crisis. The couple recounted how Eric developed a severe brain infection that triggered uncontrollable seizures. COVID-19 restrictions left Debbie as his only visitor while he spent weeks in a medically induced coma and endured another surgery.
“The first time that we went through this it was hard, but I can’t even express how hard the second go round was in 2020,” recalled Debbie. “There were blood clots and so many scary moments where they couldn’t get the seizures to stop for two months. As I look back on those years and even up until today, I just see God at work, and how He has sent friends to us to help Eric recover.”
Some of that help came from close friends; some from unexpected places. A physical therapist, Daniel Sims, has visited their home every Monday for four years. Local mechanics at Leenheer Auto in Carthage are always available to assist with the couple’s vehicles. Friends drop by the house for support. Debbie’s former students’ families helped connect her with medical care after she broke her hip earlier this year. The couple also credits Focus Church for providing what they praise as an amazing support system.
Their son, now an NC State student working for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, has been by their side through hospital stays and recovery.
“Our focus is on God, who gives us more than we ask, and we give Him praise for all that He has done and is doing,” said Debbie.
Eric and Debbie both emphasized how incredibly blessed they feel to have a strong support system present in their lives. Despite the setbacks, the couple centers their days on routine and gratitude. Eric attends online speech therapy through an aphasia program. He follows sports, especially golf and football. Natalie, their quiet, gentle rescue dog, seldom leaves their sides.
Debbie continues tutoring children in the afternoons and spends weekends taking walks with Eric along paved trails where he can use his walker. She bakes often—“She’s a fantastic baker,” Eric made sure to interject—and the two make a point of keeping joy in small moments.
“When we go for MRIs, we pray,” Debbie said. “Then we go out to eat, we joke in the car, and we don’t let fear run the day. We take the situation seriously, but we choose to stay lighthearted.”
Eric sums up their approach in fewer words: “Blessings. That’s our focus.”
The Bartos say they share their story for one reason, and that reason is to offer hope to others.
“There have been so many trials,” Debbie said. “But there has also been so much goodness. We want people to know they’re not alone, and that even in hard places, there can be light.”
Abegail Murphy | Assistant Editor
Article by Sandhills Sentinel Assistant Editor Abegail Murphy. Abegail has been writing for Sandhills Sentinel since 2021.
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